Find the truth. Solve the murder. Never reveal your secret.

Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at university: The Murder Masquerade Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, but they were always fictional – until their final Christmas puzzle, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again.

Now, the remaining members receive an invitation to a reunion masquerade, to be held in a beautiful and remote country house in Scotland. The game begins, and it feels just like old times.

Until the next morning, when Lady Partridge is found hanging from a pear tree.

It quickly becomes clear that in this game, the murder will be all too real, and the story is bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface. If they hope to survive the festive season then they will need to face the truth about what happened on that fateful night twelve years ago.

Behind The Scenes…

I have an issue with naming characters. There are only about ten characters max in the whole story and I was halfway through when I realised that more than half of them had names beginning with A – a rapid rewrite ensued. Amala became Kamala and Aggie became Maggie. I was also worried about the confusion between the character’s name and their name in the Murder Masquerade game, so most of them begin with the same letter (Pandora = Lady Partridge and Leo = Lord Leapworth.) Shona, being Shona, refused to comply. Some characters you just can’t control.

“Good for spreading holiday fear”

Kirkus reviews